Mt Lincoln (14,286) and Mt Bross (14,172) by Brian Schultz from Montgomery Reservoir Saturday September 28, 2002
Well, I did it again. Just like last year and almost exactly to the date, I drove straight in from Nebraska to the Montgomery Reservoir, prepared my pack and headed up Mt Lincoln. But this time Mt Bross was my main objective and the same route would provide the official 3,000 feet elevation gain I was looking for. I also had high hopes of doing it without repeating last year's fiasco.
I was able to drive my car past the reservoir to a parking area on the left, just across from the four-wheel drive parking area. The car handled the short stretch of road easily and I began at 12:00 noon with a watchful eye to the dark clouds above. I got winded while climbing up the headwall and had to take a 10 minute break only forty five minutes into the hike. The hit and miss trail soon put me above the waterfall where I marked a waypoint on my GPS, just in case the weather fogged in later. It turned out to be a smart move, as I would find out later on the return. A few minutes later it snowed furiously but the shower was brief and the mass of dark clouds moved on. I hiked into the amphitheater and, unlike last year, kept to the left while watching a solo climber descend on the right. Having done both sides, I can say there's no discernible advantage to hiking one side or the other.
I encountered snow on the slopes and it got fairly deep as I gained elevation- in some areas below the summit I was stepping in up to my knees. I arrived on top at 3:13 and stayed all of two minutes while it began snowing again. This was my 5th time on Lincoln, making it my most visited fourteener, but seeing all the snow on the route to Bross and not knowing how deep it was, I thought it wise to keep moving. But the snow presented no problem and I arrived at the windblown summit of Bross at 4:04. The temperature was warm at the late hour but I only stayed 20 minutes. I wanted to get down before dark. On the descent I passed two fellows who did an interesting loop route from Mt Buckskin to Democrat to Bross. They didn't say whether they also climbed Lincoln but asked if it was possible to descend South Bross's ridge to their parked car, about two miles down the road from Kite Lake. I couldn't answer their question but I did tell them how to get to Kite Lake from Bross.
I made it back to Lincoln at 5:17 just as clouds began fogging in the whole area. I took a five minute break to double-check my descent route and paid much closer attention this time. Despite the poor visibility I had no difficulty on the descent, even though my footsteps from earlier were filled in. After descending below the snow cover I worked down the loose scree and rock to the bottom of the amphitheater and stopped for a look. I could see the reservoir in the distance but couldn't find or hear the waterfall below. Daylight was fading fast and on a hunch, I pulled out the GPS to see how far I was from the waypoint.
I was surprised to see the direction it pointed to because my inclination would've taken me on a bushwhack through the wrong side of the woods. The bearing brought me straight to the waterfall and for that I was grateful. But the steep trail below the waterfall wasn't as easy to follow down as it was going up, and eventually I chose to venture out of the trees onto open rocks for a more manageable descent before finding the trail again. I was very happy when I emerged out of the woods and arrived at my car at 7:15, just minutes before it turned completely dark. Everything that went wrong last year went right this time so I felt redeemed. Today was a nice outing.
Total hiking time- 7 hours 15 minutes including all breaks